New Delhi: Asian investors are betting more on equities as the most preferred hedge against inflation followed by gold, according to a survey. As per a survey done by investment bank Barclays Capital, equities are the most sought after hedge against inflationary pressures, while gold was the second most popular choice. The survey covered clients of wealth management organizations with combined assets under management of over $5 trillion. Equities continue to be the most recommended asset by wealth managers for the next six months to produce a global balanced-risk investor portfolio, it added. This year investors are being advised to hold an average of 37 percent of their portfolio in global equities a marginal decline from 42 percent a year ago, the report said. U.S. equities are more favored today, with an average allocation of 10 percent, up from 5 percent three years ago. Moreover, 65 percent of respondents said they are likely to raise this allocation over the next six months. However, advisors are recommending a reduced allocation in equities in Latin America, the Middle-East, Eastern Europe and Africa compared to a year ago. The recommended asset allocation for these regions has fallen from an average of nine per cent to just five per cent, the report said. A large majority of respondents expect revenues to grow by more than five percent in Asia, excluding Japan, over the next two years, wherein the most attractive countries for business expansion in the region would be China and India. The outlook for Asia's developed nations, however, is not so bright as Australia and South Korea's revenue growth is forecast to be either negative or less than five percent over the next two years. One of the more notable shifts in client sentiment following the financial crisis was the increase in demand for more vanilla or transparent products. Meanwhile, with global economies on a recouping mode, the percentage of respondents who felt the challenges of doing business across all categories were "extremely" or "very difficult" have reduced as compared to 2010.